Memphis Never Dies

Memphis, the musical that came to Broadway in a Season with few musicals, is still running. Despite mixed-to-bad reviews and negative hype from the theatre community, the 1950s era musical has played 881 performances. In what was one of the most disappointing years for the Tony Awards, they won Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. Of all the long-running shows, this is one of the most mediocre. The original musical seems to take aspects from every 50s-set musical that came before it, but not as well done. The best moments in the show are Sergio Trujillo’s choreography (who wasn’t even nominated). The piece was filmed lived on Broadway, shown in movie theaters Nationwide, and still has yet to recoup their initial investment (their weekly gross has only succeed $800K a few times). Producers recently brought RENT star Adam Pascal in, to beef-up sales. We shall see how long this charade will continue. Dozens of better shows have come and gone, but for now Memphis “lives in” the Shubert Theatre on Broadway.